Turned onto a road that has a school zone (30km/h), Noticed the Undercover cop on the left in the parking lot across from the school before I hit the 30 zone. Did my 30-35 through the whole area while he was tagging me from the rear. No problem.

The school zone ends and there is a stop sign at an intersection. A van coming the opposite direction (towards the cop and school zone) comes off the stop sign and I can tell he is accelerating into the 30 faster than he should.

I stick my arm out the window and signal him to slow down for the impending trap he is driving into, while receiving a dumb look on his dumb face. Well, he didn't slow down and I watched my RVM, cop was targeting him the whole way. Pulled out and got him.

He probably thought you were one of those pearl-clutching soccer mom types telling him to slow down around their snowflakes. Is flashing your lights on and off to warn of cops ahead unheard-of in your area or illegal?

He probably thought you were one of those pearl-clutching soccer mom types telling him to slow down around their snowflakes. Is flashing your lights on and off to warn of cops ahead unheard-of in your area or illegal?

Click to expand...

In Utah nobody does the flashing lights thing. They just don’t do it or know what it is. I do since I grew up out east and it was common road culture there to do that. Definitely something I miss about the Eastern part of the US.

I flash my lights and it seems there is only about a 25% reaction rate from brake lights in my RVM. People just don't seem to do it anymore. I learned from my parents a long time ago, but I think things like this just get lost over generations.

He probably thought you were one of those pearl-clutching soccer mom types telling him to slow down around their snowflakes. Is flashing your lights on and off to warn of cops ahead unheard-of in your area or illegal?

Click to expand...

Hah, Yeah, I don't doubt that at all. Ah, well lesson learned the hard way for him I guess!

Not sure on the legality of flashing lights, I do it anytime I see a trap and people are generally clueless to it. Rarely see anyone even notice, except sometimes I'll get a trucker that flashes back or waves.

Not sure on the legality of flashing lights, I do it anytime I see a trap and people are generally clueless to it. Rarely see anyone even notice, except sometimes I'll get a trucker that flashes back or waves.

Click to expand...

Check your state code. Utah considers it “aggressive driving”. I believe they wrote it to stop people from flashing someone repeatedly who cuts them off, but since it’s written so loosely, even flashing your lights to warn of a police officer would fall under it too. Dumb, I know... But better to know ahead of time.

Utah considers it “aggressive driving”. I believe they wrote it to stop people from flashing someone repeatedly who cuts them off, but since it’s written so loosely, even flashing your lights to warn of a police officer would fall under it too

Click to expand...

- I imagine that would be a hard one to enforce. I on occasion accidently flash my lights when I'm being too aggressive with the turn signal.

Yep I’ve flashed lights, waved arm out the window, hit brake lights 20x, no one seems to get it.

Click to expand...

When people are behind me and I get a strong Ka hit ahead, I will do a superficial triple brake tap at perfectly timed interval. Such that I'm not really slowing the car down other than decelerating, but using my brake lights to provide a warning brake pattern at a rate of about 3 taps in about 1.5 seconds.

I imagine that would be a hard one to enforce. I on occasion accidently flash my lights when I'm being too aggressive with the turn signal.

Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. It would be hard. One could argue you were checking if your lights were on or not. Even in the day, I could say I was trying to see if my DRLs were active -- looking at the indicator lights on the dashboard. I just wouldn't want to have to be bothered to have to explain that to an officer who stopped me

Elsewhere, intelligent people would observe brake lights and think why? In Florida, brake lights are a random occurrence sometimes indicating that someone in the vehicle realized they were accelerating to 20 MPH below PSL!

- These dopes don't notice it because they aren't paying attention, they are looking at their phones ! If there was an App called " Flash your lights if you see a speed trap" they might get a clue.

...

Click to expand...

It's always been bad out there, and smartphones have only made it worse.

Very few folks understand how to "read sign." The inability to respond to a direct communication like a flashing headlights is just one example. Some signs are a bit more cryptic. If the car 500 yards ahead of me is almost out of sight around a blind curve and I see its brake lights flash, that means there is something up ahead of him that I can't see yet...so I'll slow down. Most don't know that is a clue. Or when you are on a dry road on a cloudy day and the vehicles coming toward you have their wipers on, that tells you it's raining up ahead, so adjust accordingly. In years gone by, other drivers likely saw these signs, but didn't understand what they were looking at. Today, in addition to not understanding what the signs mean, they also have their heads in their phones, so they don't even see the signs...which they don't understand anyway.

When people are behind me and I get a strong Ka hit ahead, I will do a superficial triple brake tap at perfectly timed interval. Such that I'm not really slowing the car down other than decelerating, but using my brake lights to provide a warning brake pattern at a rate of about 3 taps in about 1.5 seconds.

Click to expand...

I try to do this as well, the problem is, it's so damn flat where I live I'll get a full ramp alert, start to decelerate and give a brake tap, but sometimes ends up being a 5 minute drive before we see a cop, so they're probably thinking, what the heck is this guy doing...and disregard it.

I used to have LED lights built into my rear bumper so if I was coming into a trap (during the day) I'd flash my rear lights as they were bright as F and would get your attention.

I did get a thumbs up from one guy in Edmonton, I knew there was a trap ahead so I was doing the PSL. This van was about to pass me on the left so I did the arm out the window wave at him while he was coming up beside me. RD was going off, getting closer the ALP's went off, the guy finally noticed the speed trap ahead and gave me a thumbs up for saving him!

In Utah nobody does the flashing lights thing. They just don’t do it or know what it is. I do since I grew up out east and it was common road culture there to do that. Definitely something I miss about the Eastern part of the US.

Written from my mobile device.

Click to expand...

Problem with flashing lights in a view of a LEO is that they pull you over in some states and ticket you for doing so. I always flash the lights when I clear the line of sight.

I also flick my hazards for 2 cycles to thank anyone who let me go by etc etc etc...many times I get the flash back and many other times I get massive confused angry looks.

United States
In the United States, although the legality of headlight flashing varies from state to state, a federal court ruled that flashing headlights was a constitutionally protected form of speech, issuing an injunction prohibiting a police department from citing or prosecuting drivers who flash their lights to warn of radar and speed traps.[28][29][30]

Some states consider that drivers have a First Amendment right to flash their headlights. In other states, law enforcement officers give citations for headlight flashing under three types of laws: (1) laws prohibiting a person from obstructing a police investigation, (2) laws prohibiting a person from having flashing lights on their vehicle, and (3) laws prohibiting shining a vehicle’s high beams at oncoming traffic. The specific language of each law varies by state along with courts’ holdings on whether their respective laws prohibit headlight flashing. Additionally, although not legally binding, the state driver’s manual of some states suggests flashing high beams under specific scenarios (e.g. if an oncoming vehicle is using its high beams, driver’s manuals suggest a motorist flash his or her high beams momentarily).[31][32]

In Alaska, a State Trooper has probable cause to stop a driver who flashes a vehicle’s high beams based upon a violation of 13 AAC 04.020(e)(1).[33]

In Arizona, flashing high beams or headlights is a violation of A.R.S. Section 28-942.1 (Failure to Dim Headlights). However, A.R.S. Section 28-942.2. states: If the driver of a vehicle follows another vehicle within two hundred feet to the rear, except when engaged in the act of overtaking and passing, the driver shall use a distribution of light permissible under this article other than the uppermost distribution of light specified in section 28-941, paragraph 1.[34]

In California, headlight flashing is legal in some situations and illegal in others. It is legal for a driver to flash his headlights to indicate intention to pass on a road which does not allow passing on the right. However, headlight flashing on multiple-lane highways is illegal.[10]

In Florida, headlight flashing is protected free speech pursuant to the First Amendment.[35] Additionally, on 1 January 2013, §316.2397(7), Fla. Stat. was amended to legalize headlight flashing.[36][37] In 2005 and 2011, judges in County Court held that flashing a vehicle's headlights is not a violation of §316.239(7), Fla. Stat.[38][39]

In Illinois, a "flashing to warn" citation was successfully defended on May 7, 2015 in Boone County, via People vs. White, as the bench trial judge found the use of Illinois Vehicle Code 12-212(b) addresses lighting equipment, but not motorist behavior relative to usage of lighting systems.[citation needed]

In Louisiana, drivers who flash headlights are typically cited for a violation of Louisiana Revised Statute Title 32:327, Section C which states: Flashing lights are prohibited except on authorized emergency vehicles, school buses, or on any vehicle as a means of indicating a right or left turn, or the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, overtaking or passing.[40]

In Maryland, police officers sometimes ticket drivers for flashing car headlights under a law which prohibits driving in a vehicle with flashing lights and laws prohibiting "obstructing a police investigation".[5] The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland challenges the current interpretation of the law, contending the law refers to an adjective and not a verb; that automatic flashing lights on non-emergency vehicles are illegal, but the act by a driver of manually flashing a vehicle's headlamps is not.[5] Though ticketing was common in the 1990s, Maryland and Washington DC police say that flashing one's headlights was not against the law in either place.[41]

In Massachusetts, the practice of headlight flashing is technically not forbidden. A suspicious police officer can ask a motorist if they were flashing their lights to warn oncoming motorists of police presence. If the motorist denies this, the officer can ask if the vehicle has defective lights, which is a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 7.[42]

In Michigan, it is illegal to flash high beams within 500 feet of oncoming traffic.[43]

In Minnesota, drivers are not prohibited from briefly flashing their high beams in a manner that does not blind or impair approaching drivers.[44]

In Missouri, a trial judge in St. Louis held that drivers have a First Amendment right to flash their headlights.[45][46]

In New Jersey, drivers are allowed to flash their headlights to warn approaching drivers about a speed trap ahead.[47] In 1999, The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division held that a statute limiting how far high beams may project is not violated when a motorist flashes his or her high beams to warn oncoming motorists of radar. The Court also concluded that a stop by a police officer based upon high beam flashing is also improper.[48]

In New York, headlight flashing is not illegal. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 375 [3] requires that headlamps "shall be operated so that dazzling light does not interfere with the driver of the approaching vehicle".[49] In 1994, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division held that flipping or flicking high beams at approaching vehicles is insufficient to cause the "dazzling lights" prohibited under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 375 [3].[50] In 2009, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division (Fourth Department) held that the flashing of lights alone is not a violation of New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 375 [3], that stopping a vehicle based upon that is illegal, and all evidence gathered as a result of the illegal stop should be suppressed.[51]

In North Dakota, when an oncoming vehicle is within 500 feet, high-beam flashing for any length of time (including momentary flashes) and for any purpose at night is illegal under N.D.C.C. Section 39-21-21.[52]

In Ohio, courts have held that the act of flashing one's headlights so as to alert oncoming drivers of a radar trap does not constitute the offense of obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duties, where there was no proof that the warned vehicles were speeding prior to the warning.[53][54] In another case, where a driver received a citation under an ordinance prohibiting flashing lights on a vehicle, a court held that the ordinance referred to the noun of flashing lights and did not prohibit the verb of flashing the headlights on a vehicle.[55] In a different case, a court held that a momentary flick of the high beams is not a violation of Ohio R.C. 4513.15[56] (which prohibits drivers from aiming glaring rays into the eyes of oncoming drivers).[57]

In Oregon, a court ruled that flashing a vehicle's headlights to warn others about the presence of law enforcement is protected free speech under Article I, section 8, of the Constitution of Oregon.[58]

In Virginia, headlight flashing to warn of police activity is not against the law; however radar detectors remain outlawed.[63] Virginia motor vehicle code specifies an "audible or light signal" to indicate overtaken vehicles should yield in certain situations [64]

In Washington, flashing high beams could be considered illegal, as section 46.37.230 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) states that drivers may not use their high beams within 500 feet (150 m) of oncoming traffic, or within 300 feet (91 m) of traffic in front of them. However, at least in the case of oncoming traffic, other courts interpreting a statute similar to this one have held that momentary headlight flashing which does not adversely affect the vision of the oncoming driver is not prohibited. Under Washington's law, violating RCW 46.37.230 may result in a $124 traffic infraction.[1][65]

In Wisconsin, the law allows a vehicle operator to intermittently flash a vehicle’s highbeam headlamps at an oncoming vehicle whose highbeam headlamps are lit.[66][67]

Click to expand...

Last edited: Sep 19, 2018

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” - Winston Churchill
=